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Subject:Re: Chinese painting?
Posted By: rat Wed, Jul 15, 2015
Yes, this is Chinese, but I'm a bit puzzled too. I think it may be an imitation or reproduction rather a vintage painting; it seems both printed as well as a stylistic pastiche.
The woman's face and hairstyle suggests early to mid-20th century, maybe earlier (cf Fu Baoshi paintings and Republic-era advertisements that some have collected in recent years), but I think the image has been printed on fabric (and may therefore be much more recent than the 1950s) rather than painted: a painter would orient silk so that the weave was horizontal and vertical rather than on the diagonal as appears here. Also the ink would soak into the fabric more than seems the be the case here. The yellow-green of the ground is unusual, the servant boy reminds me of Ming-period servant boys, and the tree and rocks seem stylistically at odds with the detailed rendering of the woman. I'm not sure what it all adds up to.
There is relatively little published on pictures of women like this painted for the popular Chinese market. James Cahill has a book you might consult called Pictures for Use and Pleasure, which examines Qing vernacular painting and has a few chapters on paintings of women.
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